DNA methylation of hMLH1 correlates with the clinical response to cisplatin after a surgical resection in Non-small cell lung cancer (#1131)

Department of Oncology, The Second Xiangya Hospital of Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, China

Background:

Human mutL homolog 1 (hMLH1) is the most important member of Mismatch repair (MMR) genes encoding a number of DNA repair enzymes and thus cooperating to recognize and repair DNA mismatches [1]. DNA methylation of hMLH1 has been found in ovarian and colorectal cancer cell lines for resistance to cisplatin[2,3]. Our previous study also demonstrated that DNA methylation of hMLH1 is involved in determining sensitivity to cisplatin in NSCLC A549/DDP cell line, and cisplatin resistance could be reversed by the demethylating agent 5-zaz-2’-deoxycytidine (5-Aza-dc) in vitro [4].

The cisplatin-based adjuvant chemotherapy is more beneficial for NSCLC patients without hMLH1 methylation. hMLH1 methylation may have a potential to become a biomarker of individualized therapy for NSCLC patients.